Here’s more from McRae’s post-game press conference…
Q: What do you think about marching to the SCG? A: We are better because of the experience, we played there three weeks ago. Jordie (De Goey) told me we weren’t playing, so we’re a lot better. Many good lessons. There will be time to discuss the lessons we have learned. Tonight we will celebrate that we have become a preliminary.
Q: Fremantle’s ball use was stagnant. How did you see the Pies’ defensive effort? A: It was something we worked on during the week, we looked for, they’re going to try to have the ball on foot and we took them out and forced them down the line and our aerial guys went to work. That’s our real strength, marking interceptions, I think we’re number one in the competition. We wanted to force it in this style of play and we smothered them with the undisputed mark in particular.
Q: Do you think Darcy Moore’s two finals have been a bit underrated? A: He’s been sick all week, so I’ll just tell it for what it is. About specific players. But I thought it was pretty good tonight. If you look back and see how he played interception, the guy has been in bed pretty sick for a couple of days. I love what he does. I will defend him.
Q: There is the inexperience you have in your squad, but many are so impressive in what has been their first finals series. How proud are you of how they’ve been able to rise to the occasion? A: Two weeks in a row it looks like we could face the big stage. This is why we play and our game plan builds up. All year we feel like we’re preparing for a finals-type game plan and just honing our craft and getting better. I think individually it has felt more at home. 90,000 people there and mostly in black and white, thanks to the magpie army for coming. We were ready for the occasion. It’s exciting.
Q: You get more out of Mason Cox in the second half of the year, very good in the contest and the ruck. A: Like everyone else, we want Mason to get better. He is now over 30 years old and is just asking you to take care of your trade. When he marks the ball, he is a presence. He’s another one who fires up the crowd when he gets up. I think it’s an important gear, as many are.
Q: How important was Darcy Moore not to miss the game, considering what you said there? A: I hate having the doctor call me on game day. He called me on the day of the game. So there was some concern. The confidence level was still there, but a bit of concern.
Q: Cold and flu-like symptoms? A: I don’t want to give too much away.
Q: Taylor Adams and Brodie Grundy, two very senior players who are out tonight, can you tell us about the role they have played in and around the club, not being able to play? A: Brodie is working with our rucks and looking at what’s coming. And ‘Tay’ was in the box tonight hitting center rebounds. So it was very difficult for Taylor after the game. He’s in, but as I said last week, he’s going to struggle on game day. We have to try to keep these guys close to us. That’s 22 playing tonight, 23, and there are many more that have contributed to why we’re in this position, so we’ll keep them on the ride.
Q: Are you more comfortable, given how many close wins you’ve had in the back half of the season? A: We are improving and finding ways. The last quarter, just trying to manage the clock a little bit, which makes it difficult to score. So potentially we can do that and score more goals, but we didn’t really need to score too many more. They had to throw six goals at the same time. These things keep the game a little tighter, which we learn our lessons from. But as I keep saying, I think our best is ahead of us. And looking forward to the challenge of what’s to come this week.
Q: The change from last week, how did you see his game? A: I was very proud of Trent (Bianco), he came in and did what he needed to do. He gets caught making a couple of mistakes, hey, that’s fine. We are allowed to make mistakes, so I thought his discipline was at work… And he allowed others to shine just by doing their jobs. I read a couple of comments when we picked him, I thought, they don’t see the confidence we have in this little kid and to his credit, he played well.
Q: The finals, throughout this whole streak and it was in a preliminary final, can Collingwood win a top spot? A: We are here to win it. One more game and you’re in the grand final. We’re here to win this thing. Let’s work to improve and give ourselves every opportunity. We know it’s coming up in Sydney, but we’ll give it our best shot. We are ready to go.